NEW YORK – The Columbia wrestling team will head to central
New York this weekend to compete in the 44th New York State Wrestling
Championships hosted by Cornell. The tournament will run from Nov. 17-18 with
the ‘A’ tournament commencing Saturday and the ‘B’ tournament on Sunday.
Competition will begin at 9 a.m. both days in Newman Arena.

A total of twenty-one schools from the Empire State will be
in action, including: Alfred State, Binghamton, Brockport, Buffalo, Columbia, No.
8 Cornell, Cortland, Hofstra, Hunter, Ithaca, Jamestown CC, Mount Saint
Vincent, Nassau CCC, New York University, Niagara County CC, Oneonta, Oswego,
Rochester Institute of Technology, U.S. Military Academy, USMMA and Yeshiva
University.

The Lions are coming off a very successful showing at the
Michigan State Open, as five wrestlers placed, including three open draw
winners. Steve Santos (149 pounds), Jake O’Hara (157 pounds) and Stephen West
(174 pounds) all won their open draws in East Lansing, Mich. last weekend,
while Chad Ryan (157 pounds) and Austin Coniker (174 pounds) placed fourth and
fifth, respectively.

Columbia This Season/Ranked
NY Wrestlers125 – Robert Dyar went 2-2 to open
the season at MSU. After dropping a decision in the opening round to Edinboro’s
Kory Mines, Dyar won his next two matches over opponents from Notre Dame (Ohio)
and Michigan State. Hofstra’s Steve Bonanno, No. 6/7 (AWN/Intermat) is the only
wrestler from New York currently ranked in this weight class.

149 – No. 14/16
Santos opened the 2012-13 campaign with four victories, claiming the MSU Open
draw title at 157 pounds. The senior captain began the tournament with a major
decision over Alex Griffin (Purdue) and then won three straight decisions.
Santos defeated No. 16/17David Habat (Edinboro) to win the draw. In addition to
Santos, No. 2/4 Donnie Vinson, No. 5/8 Justin Accordino (Hofstra) and No. 20/20
Daniel Young (Army) are each ranked nationally.

157 – The Lions
had five wrestlers compete at 157 pounds at the MSU Open. No. 12/14 won the
open draw with four victories, including a major decision over Purdue’s Dustin
Schultz. Chad Ryan took fourth in the open draw, going 3-2 with a major
decision over Tim Rigel (Ohio State) and a pin of Northwestern’s Ben Sullivan.
Jake Kazimir went 2-2 in the open draw with wins over opponents from Manchester
and Trine. Jacob Marks and Connor Sutton each competed in the
freshmen/sophomore draw. Both wrestlers went 2-2 and each recorded a pin. No.
-/17 Craig Eifert is the only other New York wrestler currently ranked.

165 – Tommy Di Vitantonio,
Kevin Brown and Andrew Barth each lost their first two matches at the MSU Open.
Cornell’s Kyle Dake is the top-ranked wrestler in both polls at 165 pounds,
while Buffalo’s Mark Lewandowski is ranked 12th/15th.

174 – No. 18/- West
had the longest road to his title at 174 pounds, winning five matches. The
senior captain opened this year with back-to-back pins and then topped Michael
Duckworth of Ohio with a 10-2 major decision. Ryan Doyle dropped his first two
matches of the season in the open draw, while Coniker secured fifth in the
freshmen/sophomore draw. Coniker won his first match by way of major decision,
16-2, over Spencer Blatz (Manchester) and then picked up decisions over
opponents from Notre Dame (Ohio) and Kent State. No. 8/11 John-Martin Cannon
(Buffalo) and No. 20/15 Coleman Gracey enter the NYSC ranked.

184 – Shane
Hughes pinned Zach Kurtz (Manchester) to start the MSU Open, but then fell in
his next two matches, while Drew Rebling dropped his first two matches in the
open draw. Zach Hernandez went 3-2 in the freshmen/sophomore draw, notching
pins over Josh Cook (Kennedy King College) and Mike Auletta (Edinboro).
Cornell’s Steve Bosack is the topped-ranked wrestler in the nation in the
latest AWN poll, and second in the Intermat poll.

197 – In the open
draw, Matt Idelson went 1-2 at MSU, capturing a 2-1 decision over Central
Michigan’s Kurt Alder. No. 8/8 Nate Schidel from Binghamton is the lone New
York wrestler ranked nationally.

285 – Chris Manna
went 2-2 last weekend, gathering a pin over Manchester’s Jason Pedigo in 2:33. There
are no wrestlers from New York schools ranked in this weight class.